More customers are demanding details of environmental policy from suppliers
Many businesses are finding they need to manage a wide variety of issues, many of which have an environmental context. Legislation such as Packaging Regulations, Environmental Permitting Regulations, the landfill tax, and VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) should all be considered. In addition, there is an increasing need to demonstrate environmental awareness to customers who may be demanding your environmental policy, proof of audits, or information about how you manage the environmental aspects of your business, as well as to satisfy the regulators or your insurer.
The best way of managing this process is by having and implementing an overall strategy for managing environmental matters. This is known as an Environmental Management System (EMS), bringing together all the relevant issues in a single strategic plan.
There are currently a number of environmental management standards for which, external certification is available:
- ISO 14001:2004
- EMAS (the European Eco-Management and Audit Scheme)
- BS 8555:2003
It may be worth investigating these for adoption in your business.
As a first step, organisations should carry out a review of their activities which affect (or could affect) the environment. These may be:
- Regulatory, involving for example, waste disposal, emissions to atmosphere or discharges to water through drains or effluent
- Resource issues such as raw materials sourcing; water or energy use
- Neighbourhood issues such as noise or transport
The review will highlight useful areas of environmental gain as well as those areas which require positive management to minimise risks.
Suggested Steps
- Review how your business affects the environment
- Make sure you know what legislation is relevant to you
- Examine your use of resources
- Develop an environmental policy
- Develop procedures for key environmental tasks utilising best practice
- Set objectives for environmental improvement
- Carry out training for those people who carry out tasks which affect the environment
- Audit and review progress
- Make progress review reports available to stakeholders
Demonstrating your commitment to the environment is fast becoming a business necessity and is a feature of winning new contracts. Customers want to be assured that the environment is not overlooked and that environment is integrated into the management philosophy.
EMS can help you reduce environmental risk by identifying weak spots and managing key issues. It will help you to identify areas for savings and may help you to avoid making expensive mistakes. It is also a requirement of insurers for some businesses where the risks are high for full cover to be granted. There are companies who can help in producing an EMS and if you want a contact name please ring Tom Butler on 0113 202 1227.
